List of recommendations
Recommendation 1
9.12The committee recommends the Australian Government considers funding and co-designing a National Framework for ADHD, together with people with ADHD as well as ADHD advocacy and community organisations.
Recommendation 2
9.13The committee recommends the Australian Government consult with people with lived experience of ADHD, healthcare colleges and organisations to identify additional supports to improve access to ADHD healthcare and support. This should encompass reviewing bulk billing incentives to reduce out-of-pocket expenses for diagnosis and ongoing support, shared care models, telehealth, and improving access in rural, regional and remote areas.
Recommendation 3
9.32The committee recommends the Australian Government review the Medicare Benefits Schedule with a view to improving the accessibility of assessment, diagnosis and support services for people with ADHD.
Recommendation 4
9.33The committee recommends the Australian Government review the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to improve the safe and quality use of medications by people with ADHD. This review should give consideration to the requirements for a diagnosis to access some medications, age restrictions, dosage restrictions and the scope of practice for clinicians prescribing medications.
Recommendation 5
9.34The committee recommends that the Commonwealth expedite the development of uniform prescribing rules to ensure consistency between state and territory jurisdictions, through the Ministerial Council on Health.
Recommendation 6
9.41The committee recommends the Australian Government, in collaboration with people with ADHD and ADHD advocacy and community organisations, develop a dedicated government ADHD information portal.
Recommendation 7
9.50The committee recommends the Australian Government implement, through the Department of Health and Aged Care, a neurodiversity-affirming public health campaign to shift social attitudes and stigma associated with ADHD and to improve public awareness and promote education.
Recommendation 8
9.59The committee recommends the National Disability Insurance Agency improve the accessibility and quality of information around the eligibility of ADHD as a condition under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Recommendation 9
9.60The committee recommends that the Department of Social Services provide ongoing funding for disability advocacy organisations, including ADHD advocacy organisations, to support people with ADHD.
Recommendation 10
9.72The committee recommends the Australian Government works to improve training on recognising and meeting the needs of ADHD people in a variety of settings, such as in education, institutional settings and the workplace, including considering setting minimum standards for neurodiversity training.
Recommendation 11
9.77The committee recommends that the Australian Government work towards improving specialised health services in institutionalised settings, including for people with ADHD.
Recommendation 12
9.84The committee recommends the Australian Government, through the current ‘Scope of practice review’ and in collaboration with healthcare colleges, develop pathways which could include an expansion of the range of healthcare professionals who are able to provide ADHD assessment and support services, particularly General Practitioners and Nurse Practitioners, and improve the skills of all healthcare professionals who interact with people with ADHD.
Recommendation 13
9.89The committee recommends all levels of government consider investing in the implementation of the Australian ADHD Professionals Association’s Australian evidence-based clinical practice guideline for ADHD, along with funding to promote the guideline to healthcare professionals and healthcare policy‑makers.
Recommendation 14
9.97The committee recommends that the Australian Government consider investing in ADHD lived experience non-profit support, disability and advocacy organisations. Such funding would enable these organisations to provide community-based and targeted services to people with ADHD, such as an advice and support helplines, legal aid, financial counselling and assistance in finding assessment, treatment and support pathways.
Recommendation 15
9.103The committee recommends the Australian Government support further research, through the Australian Government’s Medical Research Endowment Account (administered by the National Health and Medical Research Council) and the Medical Research Future Fund (administered by the Department of Health and Aged Care), to better understand ADHD, and ways to address stigma. The committee suggests that further research is needed into:
support available to people with ADHD, including evidence-informed clinical care and peer support;
addressing the stigma that people with ADHD experience including in healthcare, education and the community;
non-hyperactive presentations of ADHD and gender bias;
ADHD in First Nations, culturally and linguistically diverse and LGBTQIA+ communities; and